Emmett Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Emmett, Idaho 83617
Sunday, August 17, 2003 13:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot, who was operating his tailwheel-equipped aircraft in variable gusting winds, had completed one touch-and-go landing, and was on the landing roll of his second. Soon after touchdown, the aircraft encountered a right quartering tailwind that pushed it toward the left side of the runway. As part of his attempt to maintain directional control while he brought the aircraft to a stop in the tailwind conditions, the pilot applied differential braking. During this sequence of events, the pilot failed to reduce his level of brake application to a level that would compensate for the effects of the tailwind, and therefore the aircraft nosed over on the runway surface. According to the pilot, there did not seem to be anything wrong with the aircraft's brakes or flight controls. According to the pilot, without the effects of the tailwind, the aircraft probably would not have nosed over. In the recommendation section of the pilot report that he submitted to the NTSB, the pilot wrote, "Don't try to land with quartering tailwind."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to adequately compensate for a quartering tailwind during the initial part of the landing roll, and his failure to adequately decrease his brake applications to compensate for the tailwind conditions. Factors include, variable, gusting winds, and a tailwind during the landing roll..

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/17/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Emmett
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83617
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 435059N
Event Location Longitude 1163234W
Event Location Airport Emmett Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID S78
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 2350
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 15
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15032
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 17 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 8:06AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N185LC
NTSB Number SEA03LA171
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 185
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18502014
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 15 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald R. Cobb
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Woodinville
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98072
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code S78
Departure City Emmett
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code S78
Destination City Emmett
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 26 2003 1:10PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 28
Runway Length 3250
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --